Method of treating flour and product thereof.



T. T. vl-wolxl.r METHOD 0F TREATING FLOUR AND PRODUCT THEREOF.`

APPLICATION FILED FEB. Il. 1915.

Patented Oct. 5, 1915.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

T. T. VERNON.

METHOD oF TREATING FLDUR AND PRODUCT THEREDF.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. II. 1915;

4Dammi 001;. 5, 1915.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

Maz/@ausw f @g2/@CM '1 375% Wiley.

T. T. VERNON.

l METHOD 0F TREATING FLOUR AND PRODUCT THEREOF.

APPLICATION FILED FEB.|1.1915.

14,155,977. Patent-ed oet. 5, 1915.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

I I I I I i L I I I l I I s ef I I I L?? I ff i I@ l i /2 6::0-5 I I I @2:0 I l: l I f I I I I I I I l f77/ Z-'zeksels f' A l l ,Zzz/evnoyl www T72 ovv/afs ZT Werften APPLICATlON FILED FEB. H |915.

Pateured Oct. 5, 1915.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 5.

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STATES j To all/whom it may concern; n Be it known that I,

linviarla?.

PATENT. onnrcn.

THOMAS. T HORNYCROFT VERNON, OF .GIEIIEISlflfl',v ENGIl'iAVND.

' i THoMAls "TrIORNY- cnor'r VERNON, a subject of the Kmgof Great Britain, residing in Chester, England,

vflour, Indian corn flour, oatmeal flour, -or "intermediate products or by-products of the have. invented a `certain new and useful Method of Treating .Flour and Product Thereof, of which the following is a' specifi.- cation. i

4t-known method of making a coarse grained cereal flour consists'in irstmaking a` paste or dough of the flour by adding 'water in the usual way or by heating the moistened flour to a `temperature high.

i enough to gelatinize the starch, subdividing l5 this pasteor doughto the required degree of' finenessnand drying, if necessary, the subdivided paste or dough. Theproduct has 4lost most of the characteristics of flour since it has passed through' the stage of paste or dough.

My invention relates to themanufacture of'coarse grained cereal products such as flour mills, which differ from the known` products .in that theyfco'nsist of coarse grains formed by aggregates of fine grained particles .whichhave not been made into a'paste or dough.

The manufacturer of evaporation and becomes dissipated-the. dust is left in a condition of aggregates of the original particles. I have discovered that such aggregates. of our areparticularly suitable for making bread and; cakes owing to theease with which they can be mixed with water, to the readiness with which the grains are' disintegratedby the` water and to the fact that the operation of drying out thewater 'has .conditioned vthe lourwithout thedrastic alterations produced in drying a paste or dough. y ,il

The' new product is madeby bringing drops of water of suitable size, containing, if desired dissolved or suspended matter,l

into directcontact vwith a stream of' the cereal flour, so that the drops are immedi-'y -ately surrounded with flour, thereby @form-` ing spherical masses, consisting of iiour and water, the size of which depends on the size of the drops. These'massesare thendried, the duration and temperature of the drying l ffpecicaton of Letters Patent.-

takes advantage of the known fact that drops ofliquid' brought' into contact with dusty'material become coat-. j ed therewith. `When the liquid is capable Mn'rnon or rnnii'rme rLoUR ANDrnoDUc'r Tnnnnon.

operation depending on whether it is desired to effect 'certain changes in the Hour by treatments which are'commonly known as conditioning or maturing.

with water containing substances in solutionor'suspensiomis a known operation, a very inespray being used for the purpose lmatter dissolved or suspended in it, and

such matter may remain in the dried aggregates. -v For instance, milk may be used, with obvi'otls advantages; or material may be inftroduced which would not be permissible in normal flour; thus suitable ferments, such as yeast, may be added to the water drops.

The spraying of flour' with water. and

p y Patented ct.'5,1915. applicati@ nlarebruaryir, i915.. seriamente.

Again, .by using a solution of an acid like tartaric acid .in treating one portion of flour,

and a solution of a carbonate in treating another portion of flour, the two dried coarse grained -lours may be miXedto form a selfraising flour with improved keeping properties.;y :nu

The accompanying drawings illustrate two forms of the apparatus suitable for making the aggregates.

'Figure l is a diagram of a plant in which the aggregates are formed by water dropped from a number of points on to the stream-of flour; Fig. 2 .is a vertical section in a plane transverse to the water trough from which the drop-s fall; Fig. 3 is a section on line l3--43 oitl 2 and-Figs. 4 and show details drawn to an enlarged scale. Fig. 6 is a`dialgram of a plant wherein a layer of fiour into 4 lwhich* the water drops are projected is produced on the inner surface of'a cone by means of a fan; Fig. 7 is a sectional elevation and'Fig. 8 a sectional planfofthe cone land fan.

j Referringfto'Fig. 1, the flour is delivered from a hopper.v aby a revolving roller b on to aniinclin'ed plane c where it receives drops of water lfrom points projecting vthrough perforations in the `bottom of a trough d. The flour containingthe aggregates formed by these drops is received by the sieve e the mesh of which depends on the size of the water drops and therefore of the aggregates. 1n the present insta-nce the drops are fairly large so that the coarse grains produced are correspondingly large. rlhe flour which passes through the sieve is returned by a conveyer f to the hopper a while the aggregates pass down a chute g on to the uppermost of a number of endless, travelin bands la. contained in a casing z', exhauste at one end by a fan 7s and containing steam pipes Z at the other end to heat the air drawn 'Y by the fan into the casing and over the bands. rlhe aggregates,fall from the top band to that next beneath it, which travels in the opposite direction and discharges the aggregates on to the next lower band and so on until the aggregates and the finer flour which accompanies them are delivered 'through a chute'g on to a second sieve e.

As before, the material which passes through the sieve is carried by a conveyer f back to the chute a whilethe aggregates pass down chute g2 on to the traveling band lz. in the.

casing i. rlhe latter is shown as constituting a conditioning chamber as to its upper half, the air drawn in being heated by steam pipes Z and a cooling chamber as to its lower half. When discharged from this casing the aggregates receive a final sifting on sieve e2 and are delivered into sacks m.

The length of the bands l1., h', the speed of their travel and the temperature of the air drawn over them, depend on the nature of the flour under treatment, the degree of conditioning desired and the size of the aggregates. A temperature of 100430o F. generally suliices if the sojourn of the aggregates on the bands Ys of considerable duration; otherwise a temperature of 13G-140 F. is desirable. As an aid to the conditioning lthe water drops may have a temperature of say 130 F. as they fall upon the our.

rllhe construction shown in Figs. 2 and 3 shows hopper a closed at bottom by a revolving roller b which delivers the flour in quantity regulated by an adjustable iap a', 0n to the inclined plane c as already stated. The water trough d iskept filled to a substantially constant level from a supply cistern al and is `adjustable in height, to vary the force with which the drops strike the flour, by means of nuts d2 working on fixed spindles and on which the trough is supported. A bar (Z6 yfixed in the trough (Fig. 4) has perforations to receive the pointed screws 033 the points of which are preferably of wood and extend through perforations iny the bottom of the trough and are provided with channels d4. The rate of flow of the water through the perforations in the bottom of the trough and down the channels in the points, and therefore the size of the drops, depends on the position of the point in the perforation as determined by the nuts d5 which support the screws on the bar d6. The flour descending the inclined plane c is received on a well-known form of rotary or vibrating sieve e which does not need further description; the floury leaves the sieve by chute c4 and the aggregates by chute g.

Referring to Figs. 6, 7 and 8, s is a fan which rotates in the cone n as will be obvious.l Through the tubular spindle of the fan extends a water pipe 0 having at its lower end a nozzle or sprinkler 79 of a well known kind adapted to spread laterally and deliver water with a gyratory motion, so that the water breaks up into drops which are projected in lateral directions or toward the sides of the cone n. r1`he flour descends chute f] on to the upper surface of the fan which at once sets it into gyra* tory movement so that .it forms a continually descending layer on the inner surface ofthe cone. Here it receives the water drops scattered by the nozzle p, the size of the drops being controlled in known manner by varying the rate of discharge by adjusting cock r. rllhe mixed Hour and 'aggregates leaving the cone may be received on traveling bands as already described and as represented in the diagram Fig. 6, in which the parts that are lettered as in Fig. l, have the functionsascribed to them in relation to that figure.

Having 'now described the nature of the said invention and the best means l know of carrying the same into practical eect, I claim zi l. As a new article of manufacture, a coarse grained cereal flour or the like consisting of dry aggregates of fine grained particles of such flour. l

2. A flour for making bread or cakes consisting of conditioned and dried aggregates of particles of flour.

3. The hereindescribedmethod of making a coarse grained cereal product, which comprises coating drops of waterwith line grained particles of a cereal product, and

drying the same to aggregate the ine coarse ygrained cereal products, which com- Y prises supplying the flour or the like* to a surface on which it forms a moving layer,

causing' drops of Water to lfall upon vSuch In testimony whereof I have signed my layer, sifting the aggregates thus formed name to this specification in the presence from the unaltered flour, and returmng the of two subscribing Witnesses.

latter to the' surface for further treatment THOMAS THORNYOROFT VERNON. 5 until substantially the Whole of the flour Witnesses: A

has become aggregates, substantially as de- J. H. ALLEN,

scribed. i A A. M. MILLER. 

